The so called "flatpack" has been available in the semiconductor industry for several years for housing a variety of semiconductor devices and integrated circuits. This package is well known in the semiconductor packaging art and is found in a number of different package configurations. Typically, these packages include: (1) a substrate for supporting an integrated circuit, semiconductor device or other electronic component, (2) a housing surrounding (and sometimes supporting) the substrate and providing some physical protection for the substrate and components mounted thereon, and (3) a plurality of electrical leads or pin connections which extend through a corresponding plurality of openings in the housing and into close proximity with the outer periphery of the substrate. Conventional die bonding techniques are used to bond an integrated circuit chip or semiconductor die to the substrate, and conventional wire bonding techniques are utilized to bond tiny wires to various active regions of the die or chip and also to the above plurality of electrical leads. These leads typically terminate above and near the edge of the semiconductor chip or die.
It has been a standard practice in the semiconductor industry for many years to utilize a so called lead frame in the above package fabrication process. This lead frame consists of a metal strip containing the above lead connections and is normally left intact until the above package is completed, whereafter the individual leads extending into the flatpack housing and into electrical contact with the semiconductor die or chip are stamped out of the unitary lead frame member. This technique facilitates the assembly-line handling, packaging and electrical testing of the individual flatpacks, which are individually stamped out of the unitary lead frame member.